diff -r 87dfadd61e0d Doc/library/ctypes.rst
--- a/Doc/library/ctypes.rst	Thu Feb 04 01:24:56 2016 -0500
+++ b/Doc/library/ctypes.rst	Sat Feb 06 13:01:01 2016 +0100
@@ -1252,15 +1252,15 @@
 
 On Linux, :func:`find_library` tries to run external programs
 (``/sbin/ldconfig``, ``gcc``, and ``objdump``) to find the library file.  It
-returns the filename of the library file.  Here are some examples::
+returns the absolute path of the library file.  Here are some examples::
 
    >>> from ctypes.util import find_library
    >>> find_library("m")
-   'libm.so.6'
+   '/lib/i386-linux-gnu/libm.so.6'
    >>> find_library("c")
-   'libc.so.6'
+   '/lib/i386-linux-gnu/libc.so.6'
    >>> find_library("bz2")
-   'libbz2.so.1.0'
+   '/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libbz2.so.1.0'
    >>>
 
 On OS X, :func:`find_library` tries several predefined naming schemes and paths
@@ -1829,6 +1829,9 @@
 
    The exact functionality is system dependent.
 
+   .. versionchanged:: 3.5
+      On Linux it returns an absolute path.
+
 
 .. function:: find_msvcrt()
    :module: ctypes.util
diff -r 87dfadd61e0d Lib/ctypes/util.py
--- a/Lib/ctypes/util.py	Thu Feb 04 01:24:56 2016 -0500
+++ b/Lib/ctypes/util.py	Sat Feb 06 13:01:01 2016 +0100
@@ -222,7 +222,7 @@
 
             # XXX assuming GLIBC's ldconfig (with option -p)
             regex = os.fsencode(
-                '\s+(lib%s\.[^\s]+)\s+\(%s' % (re.escape(name), abi_type))
+                '([^\s]+lib%s\.[^\s]+)\\n\\t[^\s]+\s\(%s' % (re.escape(name), abi_type))
             try:
                 with subprocess.Popen(['/sbin/ldconfig', '-p'],
                                       stdin=subprocess.DEVNULL,
@@ -243,6 +243,7 @@
 
 def test():
     from ctypes import cdll
+    from os.path import isabs
     if os.name == "nt":
         print(cdll.msvcrt)
         print(cdll.load("msvcrt"))
@@ -250,9 +251,9 @@
 
     if os.name == "posix":
         # find and load_version
-        print(find_library("m"))
-        print(find_library("c"))
-        print(find_library("bz2"))
+        print(find_library("m"), os.path.isabs(find_library("m")))
+        print(find_library("c"), os.path.isabs(find_library("c")))
+        print(find_library("bz2"), os.path.isabs(find_library("bz2")))
 
         # getattr
 ##        print cdll.m